BySteven Pressfield | Published: December 7, 2009

[We'll be hearing again from Maj. Jim Gant in three weeks, but for this Monday and the next, I'm very pleased and honored to feature a "report from the trenches" from independent foreign correspondent Andrew Lubin, who has just returned from six weeks in Afghanistan where he was embedded with Army and Marine troops. Mr. Lubin's son Phil is a Marine artilleryman; Andy loves the troops; nothing gives him greater pleasure than to get out there in the tall cane with young Marines and soldiers and come back with the straight, unfiltered scoop. This recent trip is his 10th to Iraq, Afghanistan and Beirut. Andy's work appears regularly in Jane's Intelligence Review, Leatherneck and Proceedings. He is the author of the award-winning book, Charlie Battery: A Marine Artillery Battery in Iraq.]

BySteven Pressfield | Published: November 30, 2009

[Some of the smartest and most interesting input we've received on this blog has come from the Comments section. Alas, such contributions often go unnoticed, buried as they are in the "back pages." In an attempt to rectify this, I'd like to present here on the front page a very insightful response to Maj. Jim Gant's paper, "One Tribe At A Time," from former infantry platoon leader and Brigade Intelligence Officer Jim Gourley--along with a reply-in-depth from Maj. Gant.This is long, but worth it. I've edited the piece lightly for acronyms and so forth.]